If you buy a used wrx make sure you have the
tranny/ clutch checked because they have a bad
reputation. Check the nasioc forums under warranty
if you don't believe me :P.

I would also get the vin # of the vehicle and
if it still has a warranty on it check with a subaru
dealer if it is still valid. Subaru will blacklist owners
if they feel the car has been raced and even
have gone as far as taking pictures of cars at
tracks.

You don't want to pay for a warranty and get
a car that's been blacklisted by SOA.

 

okay my friend that has the wrx has about 300whp. thats alot more than most wrx's out there. this guy has spent alot of money on his car/engine. ecu..turbo upgrade injectors, fmic...blah blah blah you get the idea. i have a single turbo rx7 and my car is faster than his car.....but the fact that his car is so much more daily driver mode than my car makes me choose the wrx. i simple am in love with the simplicity of his car. 4 people and good power seems like an easy choice for me. oh yeah awd is sweeet!

 

What exactly is a turboback?? I really don't care about passing emissions, so with an up-pipe, downpipe, midpipe and turbo back can i completely remove all 3 cats? 1k sounds like it'll be expensive to do :-(

 

Another deciding factor besides performance is the financing portion. If you don't have the money on hand, it'll be easier to finance a WRX since it's within 5 years and still get a decent rate. I know a lot of banks in Texas are starting to NOT finance early 90's cars because they are too old. It'll mean either shorter term and/or higher interest rate.

Insurance may be moot considering that both are turbo cars with performance. 2 seat vs. 4 seat is offset by rwd vs. awd. Insurance will be high on both cars basically.

Also, it may be easier to fix certain creature comforts in the WRX than the RX-7, like AC. Most FDs use R12 based freon (except for 95 models). Try finding R12 for a reasonable price (best I've heard is ~$75/can).

WRX has more safety features with more airbags (side impact bags). It has newer technology and so far, it's reliable. The only problems my roommate had are involved with accidents (1 in snow and 1 in drifting).
It spanked the beginner session at MSR with the RX-7 club which makes me think that the car is easier to learn than the RX-7 (and my roommate is a decent driver).

I've been in the boat of trying to decide if I want to keep my single turbo FD or buy an STI. Owning both isn't the best financial move (neither is the other mods I'm buying for the FD).

J

 

Colorado guys must think alike. I also have the POS pickup and FD. Must be the weather... snow in the winter, hail in the summer.

If you want the FD get a reliable beater (I have a 94 toyota pickup).

Your life will be simpler with the Subaru.

 

a turboback is exactly what it sounds.... all the exhaust components from the turbo: back, this includes a downpipe, (catpipe or racepipe) midpipe, and muffler.

the uppipe is usually listed seperate from the exhaust system.

In a stock wrx exhaust their is a cat in the uppipe, downpipe and after the dp in the catpipe. On a correctly tuned ECU a turboback exhaust is good for a true 25 whp.

lastly on a wrx is the header/manifolds. alot of people make the mistake of changing these out, the fact of the matter is that on my shops dyno we have never seen a header make an increase in hp except in rediclous applications 450whp + and even at that its for a sacrifice in spoolup and low end torque.

 

if you love the car like we do, get the FD and a cheap, realiable car like someone suggested earlier. I drove the FD daily this year since winter and it looks so abused, i have door dings and scratches all over and my window has several 'bulletholes' from rocks on the highway. the interior is all messy and the motor is 14k miles closer to .......

fortunately, i'm now getting an acura legend for the winter and a daily driver for the rest of my time in school. I'll be getting the 7 repainted and Ill be able to give it the love it deserves
FD and a cheap, reliable, safe car. that's my suggestion

 

WRX

 

WRX for a daily driver most def, and they are quick as hell off the line, but it doesnt comare to the looks of an fd, and the looks u will get

 

for the price youd be spending on the WRX, guessin it to be a newer STI you can get a nice condition FD(prob with some reliability mods already), a daily beater, and still have enough money left over to suit your modding needs for the time being.

 

yeah, that is true, if you are getting the sti.

 

Well... The scoop is...

I can't go for the STi, cause I'd be splitting the car with the parents (and they're not willing to go for ~$10k more for performance they don't think I need ).

Also, the daily beater won't work cause they aren't interested in buying me two cars. It's not really as "daily" of a driver as most of you, cause I live within walking distance of my HS (you really dont need to flame me for being in HS), and so I'd only be driving it maybe once every 2 days at night. I think that might be manageable.


So far, the FD is in the lead... because it seems cheaper to mod (the WRX stuff is REALLY REALLY expensive) and you can get more hp (like the 60 bolt on hp you all love). The 5 seats would be nice, but I'm not too fond of 4-doors, i'll save that for a future family car (hehehe future STi owner)
john

 

forget about a wrx....they are slow. The sti or evo is a looks like alot more fun. They run mid 13s with boltons. I know what mags say but thats what i see on the track. Its all their 60' time too. they cut 1.8X on street tires.

 

audi a4 quattro
"cruise in style mit der ladies"

Many many parts to mod the heck outta the 1.8t. With better fit and finish than the wrx will ever dream of.

 

i like the s4 alot more then the wrx but doesnt it cost alot more?

 

matty read my post, you can run 13s with just a boost controller on a wrx, granted you need to be a decent driver. but anyhow id get the wrx...if this is going to be your only car and you need to rely on it, dont get a rx7, my friend is in the same boat as you which is why he is selling his rx7. I have 2 other cars i can drive if i need to so i have daily drivers if needed i just prefer driving the rx7 ..if you dont have that luxury then you should be more concerned with reliabilty then anything.

 

the wrx ISNT slow... dont think it is... and the mods arent cheaper than the rx7, 1000 is what you would pay for a good quality rx7 exhaust. If its your daily driver and your not willing to spend every dime you have on the car (like most of us here) then just save yourself the 10year old car headach and pick up a used 2002 with like 30k on it

but if you want to live for your car.. more power to you, At the point of the FD its not a hobby anymore. its a sickness

 

that shocks me. cause the wrx that i drove, and have seen at the drags, and have raced were not 13 second cars.

 

They aren't really 2 cars I'd compare, having owned an Impreza turbo and now the FD the FD is a much better car in most (driver orientated) ways.

If you want something with great traction that you can use in almost any set of conditions (130+ in torrential rain without effort, wouldn't try doing much more than half that in the FD) then the WRX makes sense. Likewise if you ever plan on having more than one passenger, or carrying any sort of luggage it is the car to go for.

For driving enjoyment though the FD destroys it, an Impreza has to be driven at 10/10ths before it is entertaining. The chassis doesn't even feel like it is doing anything until the car is running 300+FlyBHP where as a third gen manages to let through enough information to keep you amused, even when driving slowly, without being tiresome.

Fuel consumption I found to be horrific on both, averaged 16.5mpg in the 2 years I had the scoob, the FD is probably averaging slightly better. I do drive a lot slower now, and it would probably be 10-11mpg driven the same as the Subaru was.

I run the FD as my only car (I walk to work) and it has been trouble free for the 10k miles since its rebuild, more than can be said of the Westfield I had in between times (that was a car that needed a daily driver to go with it). Likewise the Impreza was completely reliable.

As soon as you start modding either will become a money pit. I'm assuming you will have the same probs we do in the UK with the warranty becoming invalid as soon as you mod the car? might be something to think about before buying a new car.

 

matty like i said it all depends on the driver, my friend runs 15s with his and he has a boost controller and full exhaust. he just cant launch for ****, ie, 2.2 60 foots or worse, to get good times out of any wrx you need at least a 1.9 or better.

 

my friends wrx ran a 13.5 with a injen cai and hks boost controller. if i was you i would get the wrx...back seats for you and your lady friends

 

If you leave it mostly stock.. maybe DP, and new Vacuum Hoses.. RB Air Inlet... Aluminum AST, Koyo, Or Fluidyne... and you're not trying to make 400 hp to the wheels... I had mine setup like that for over a Year and Never had a maintenance problem that put me out of a car... If anything I put it in for 1/2 a day to get the Fuel Pulsation Dampener and the Injectors done, but not cause they went, but because I was afraid of engine fire sometime in the future......

Either way if you're not pushing the car, like you said you wouldn't really want to do with teh WRX... It should last you 120+K....

But if it's allready on it's 3'rd rebuid with an Apexi, or Haltech, or AEM on it and major mods... likely someone's driven it hard, and anything can and will go, when you push one thing (Hp) something else is compensating wor tolerances that it wasn't designed for.. (Diff)

My 2 Cents...

-DC

 

How much RWHP can you make w/o any extreme steps that really endanger relability?
IMHO
Extreme:
New turbos, porting, higher than 13psi boost, N2O...

Not extreme (normal?? but isn't normal stock??):
DP, MP, Catback, intake, EMC, boost controller, BOV...

I'm not sure if I ported wastegate is "extreme" or "not extreme", cause I'm not sure how much work that entails. Does anyone know?

Thanks
john

 

You need to do a lot more reading and research.

 

OK.... I have plenty of time... I did a search and have posted earlier on porting a wastegate... and no replys. Am I just blatantly wrong?